Coated temple bow



y temples;

Patented oet. 14, 1941 Um-rco STATES PATENTQFr-flca A2,259,082 y lcoA'rnn'rEmLl-i Bow Ernest A. Ring, Providence, B. I., assignor ofonehalf to Francis M. Blakeney, East Providence,

Application July 11, 1940, sel-nino. 344,865

claims.' A(ci. sii- 52)l This invention relates to temple bows coatedwith vinyl acetal resin.

In order that the principle of the invention may be -readily understood,I have disclosed in the accompanyingdrawing a temple for spectacle.

bows covered in accordance with my invention with vinyl acetal resincompacted and compressed thereabout. l

In said drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a pair of spectacles, the temples whereof havebeen covered with vinyl acetal resin and completed ina'ccordance with myinvention: 9

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a series of temples placed in parallel positionbetween laminations -of such resinous material, for subsequentseparation as individually coated temples;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the temples after the members of theseries thereof shown in Fig. 2 have been separated from each other by alengthwise cutting operation midway between the Fig. 4 is a view of thetemple completed excepting for -the bending into the shape shown in Fig.1; and

' we'arer maximum comfort and eiilciency, and yet I will first stateconcisely-in somewhat. tabular or synopsized form the features of thearticle of my invention, before describing the structure shown in thedrawing in detail, and I will at a l subsequent polntherein set forththe reasons for the use by me, in the practice of my invention, of vinylacetal resin, the advantages secured therefrom byme in so doing, and thenovel result obtained. l

In the practice of my invention laminations or sheets of vinyl acetalresin are provided; the temple, or preferably a plurality thereof arelaid side by side in closely spaced relation upon one or l more of saidsheets; said temples are then overeach temple is bentinto the form foruse, and,

desirably after bending, each pair of temples is attached to thespectacle bow.

In some cases rubber has been used, The contact of rubber directly withthe skin of the wearer has long been known to be objectionable, andvarious other materials have been 'tried, to overlay the rubber and thusto prevent direct contact thereof with the skin of the wearer. There hasbeen a long standing problem in the wear. ol spectacles, the propersolution of which hasnever heretofore been arrived at so far as I amaware. The problem in question includes f hat of resting or supporting apair of spectacles in such manner and with the use of vsuch material asto allow the at the same time preventing the direct contact with theskin of the wearer of any substance that may injuriously affect theskin.

Where rubber has been used, it has been customaryfrom time to time toremove the rubber material and to substitute a fresh rubber piecetherefor.4 This, however, involves a substantial expense if the userwishes to secure emciency in use and the best appearance of the devicePhysicians are practically agreed that continued dikilct contact withrubber is unhealthy for tender s Owing tothe objections in one way oranother to all substances heretofore used or the use of which I haveexperimented with and tested, I have conducted painstakinginvestigations to obtain a Wholly satisfactorysubstance with the 4resultthat with a certain material hereinafter more definitely described, Ihave developed or discovered unexpected qualities or capacities of thematerial and have found that by using such material, I have provided atemple which constitutes its own cushion and does not need an underlyingcushioning materialv of -rubber or any" thing else. In other words, thematerial is self, cushioning. The materialalso responds to the body heator temperature of the skin of the wearer in that it adapts itself to tneshape of the temple portions of the forehead with which itcomesincontact. y

The foregoing and other qualities which I have ascertained as unexpectedadvantages and unexpected features of adaptability of the substance. n.renderfthe same what I believe to be a skin-contacting portion oftemples for which I and other It has long been sought to providesuitable i I covering for temples of spectacles, but so far as I amaware no entirely satisfactory substance has heretofore been found orused for this purpose.

manufacturers of spectacles have .long sought. and heretofore in vain.

I'he substance found to be wholly satisfactory as employed by me may bebriefly described as a resinous product resulting from thepolymerization of certain vinyl compounds. More precisely stated, Iemploy a plastic composition obtainable vinyl acetate and type.

vas covering for temples of spectacles that come by polymerizingcompounds containing the vinyl (CH2:CH) or substituted vinyl radicalsand defined generally as polyvinyl resins; for example, polyvinylhalides, a co-polymerobtained from vinyl chloride, the polyvinyl esters,and vinylidene halide polymers, the polyvinyl acetals, thepolyacrylates, polymethacrylates, and. copolymers of vinyl chloride andacryl-I ates, and polystyrene. V

I have obtained the best results in the manufacture of coverings fortemples with polyvinyl acetal resins. These vary in the proportion ofthe degree of hydrolysis-of the ester and the de.- gree of combinationof the aldehyde. I obtain a very highly satisfactory polyvinyl acetalresin by hydrolizing a polyvinyl acetate and reacting with formaldehydeso that the final resin is made substantially of 82% acetal, 8% hydroxylgroups, calculated as polyvinyl alcohol, and acetate by weight. Anothervery highly satisfactory plastic compound of the polyvinyl reslnousnature is produced by hydrolyzing a polyvinyl acetate and reacting withbutyraldehyde, so that the ilnal resinous substance may be considered tobe made of substantially 2% or less of acetate, 16 to 20% hydroxylgroups calculated as polyvinyl alcohol and the balance acetal. Both ofthe foregoing substances I suitably plasticize in or der to adapt themto my purpose, as will be set forth hereinafter.

I may also 'employ polyvinyl acetals made with other aldehydes, as, forexample, acetaldehyde propionaldehyde, valeraldehyde and the like, ormixtures of aldehydes may be used. More briefly stated, I employ a vinylresin and more speciiically the vinyl acetals of the so-called Butvar" Avinyl resin of the Butvar type may be briefly ldened as a partialpolyvinyl acetal employing butyraldehyde as the acetalization. medium.Other polyvinyl acetals may vary in the extent of hydroxyl groups, theresidual ester, groups and the acetal groups present in the vinylcomposition.

As herein fully set forth, the polyvinyl acetal reslnous coatingmaterial employed by' me and which is directly applied 'as aself-cushioning plastic material to the basal element is, because of itsherein definedtcomposition, inherently respon-sive to the body heat atthe place of use and is strongly resistant to any deteriorationtherefrom, and it inherently adapts itself toand re tains the shapeatsuch portion of the head` at the area of the place of use thereof, andbecause of its deilned composition it is non-sticky in use. Otheradvantages thereof are herein set forth.`

Having referred in detail to certain plastic substances which I havefound to possess unexpected qualities peculiarly adapting them to use indirect contact with the skin, I shall proceed to describe the preferredembodiment of my invention without, however, limiting my. invention tothe things herein described.

In Fig. 1, I have represented a pair of spectacles, the frame or bowwhereof is shown at I, and the glass elements atlv 2. The nose piece isindicated at 3. These parts may be of any usual or preferredconstruction. 'Ihe nose piece l is formed with or suitably attached tothe frame l, and suitable temples 4 are attached in any suit- .able wayat Il.

vinyl acetal resin, and I preferably use the same in sheets orlaminations, some positioned below and some above a seriesof thetemples, which are positioned in sulciently spaced parallel relationover the underlying sheets or laminations of said reslnous material. Iapply at a suitable stage a solvent which softensthe reslnous materialsum- ,ciently to make a bond, so that all the layers become homogeneous.but vit must be and is of such character as not to deteriorate thereslnous material. It is to-be understood that the solvent employed hasrendered the resinous material satisfactorily plastic and that theseveral laminations become or will become bonded together and entirelyhomogeneous. Preferably, the covered temple is then dipped into asolvent such as Monsanto No. 45 dip, which is a mixture of one or morelretones` and one or more'esters, thereby obtaining a very clear,brilliant ilnish and transf parency. It is to be understood that insteadof applying the reslnous material as laminations, and pressing saidlaminations, I may individually mold the said vinyl acetal resin, abouteach temple. Of course, if a series of temples are placed together inlthemold side by side in suitably spaced relation, they are separatedafterward by a cutting operation as hereinbefore referred to.

I am, of course, aware that vinyl resins have been employed in certainprocesses, but I believe I am the tlrst to employ such material in sucha way, or to adapt it to such use, that the said resinous materialcontacts in use with the skin when the article to which it is applied isin its intended use'.` Being the nrst so far as I am aware to make suchuse thereof, I have, in making said use, ascertained that the reslnousmaterial has unexpected qualities adapting it to the said use asaskin-contacting substance. Among the said unexpected qualities which Ihave discovered or developed are that (l) the substance isselfcushioning and does not need any cushioning member thereunder suchas rubber, (2) the said reslnous material by reason ofcoming intocontact with the skin of the user of the spectacles is rendered morepliable and thus actually conforms to the shape or contour of thefsidesof the Vforehead at the areas of contact, (3)v the oils or exudations ofthe skin are found to remove the stickiness present inv the reslnousmaterial. In other words, I found in my experiments or trial tests, inthe use and adaptation to my WPO of vinyl acetal resin, that astickiness, which-I round to be natural to the said substance, 'had beenremoved and did not again exhibitfitself. I carefully studied thisunexpected development or phenomenon, and IA came to the conclusion'that such disappearance of the stickiness il or may be due to theaction of oils or exudationa of the skin, particularly 'in the presenceof human bodily heat.

I have discovered that not only does the solvent employed by me renderthe' resinous material or resnous materialoomposition suitably plasticso that it makes a bond of the eeverallaminations of the reslnousmaterial, but that ln its said plastic condition it suitably adherestothe metal basal member, particularly when the same has been given asuitable liquid dip to aid in the binding of the reslnous materialthereto, and, even more important, the solvent, in the presence of heatand pressure, thoroughly clears up the reslnous material and makes ittransparent.

Instead of applying the described' reslnous material by a moldingoperation, I may apply the same by a dippinmoperation.

Fig. 4.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, and merely asianvexample, I have in Fig. 2 represented the simultaneous covering of fivetemples 4 as a set. The temples. are ofyany suitable metallic ornon-metallic material, but are preferably metal, such as gold, silver,etc. In the art, the temple is referredto as a"metal cable temple.

Upon a suitable support, I place one or more laminations 5 of vinylacetal resin, so that the complete set may b e 4about .015" thick,though my invention is not so limited, having preferably soaked the saidmaterial in a suitable solvent. I then place the temples 4 in suitablespaced relation upon the said laminations, and therei-` over I place anequal number of laminations 6. This is indicated in Fig. 5. I then applyvery strong pressure to the mass, which pressure is strongly 'resistantto deterioration from such contact in use, andv because of its saidcomposition being non-sticky in use.

2. A temple for spectacle bows composed of a rod or strip-like, slender,metallic, very exible core and 'an applied, tightly adherent coveringvery flexible inl its appliedposition as a unit with said core andextending throughout at least a prolonged continuous portion of the saidcore,

. applied to said core and-compressed and comdesirably continued forseveral hours, and forces A out all air from between or even in thelamina? tions -so that no air' is imprisoned in the com` pleted article.

After a suitablepressing'interval, I remove `applied resinous coveringmay` be tapered. or

rounded as indicated at 8 in Fig. 4.

The covered temple shown in Fig. 3, of course, has much excess coveringmaterial thereon, and therefore I removethe excess which is mainly atthe sides, but may be throughout. I do .this in any suitable wayandproduce the completed, but unbent temple shown at 9 inFig. 4. Thecovered temple has a true, cylindrical formation.

Desirably, the covered templehas the inner end of the covering 1removed, so as to permit a beveled or tapered shape, as indicated atlll' in Each pair of temples 4 is then bent into the proper form, suchas that diagrammatically in'- dicated in Fig. 1 or other desired form,and the said temples are secured to the bow-i at the usual places Il. Ofcourse, the bending of the temples may be done at anydesired stage.

If desired, the entire temple may be covered as herein described. Myinvention is not limited in this respect.

Having thus described the article of my invention, it is-to beunderstood that although specific terms are employed,- they are used ina generic and descriptive sense and not for :purposes of limitation, thescope of the invention being set` li'orth in the following claims.

f prolonged continuous portion of the said core, said covering beingcomposed of polyvinyl acetal resinous material applied to said core andvery tightly compressed and compacted about said core and constituting,as so applied, compressedl and compacted, a self-cushioning plast1c`material, said covering of-polyvinyl acetal resin besaid covering beingcomposed of polyvinyl acetal resinous material obtained by hydrolizing apoly vinyl acetate and reacting with formaldehyde pacted about said coreand constituting, as so applied, compressed and compacted, aself-cushioning plastic material,l said covering being, be-

.the covering adapts itself lto the shape of the wearers head formationat the area of use, and strongly `.resistant to deterioration therefrom,

and because of its said composition being nonsticky in use.

3. Atemple for spectacle bows composed of a very iiexble rod orstrip-like core having applied and tightly adherent thereto throughoutat least a prolonged continuous portion of the said core.

'a covering of polyvinyl resinous material pro duced by hydrolizing apolyvinyl acetate and reacting with butyraldehyde, and consisting 'ofsubstantially 2% of acetate, substantially 16 to 20% hydroxyl groupscalculated asv polyvinyl "alcohol and the balancel acetal, said coveringbeing rendered plastic for such application, and

being compressed and compacted'about said core and being in its appliedposition 'very exible as a unit with said core, and'having a polishedouter'surface, the said covering consisting of a plurality oflaminations of the said plastic material' all bonded into a homogeneouswhole.

4. A temple for spectacle bows composed 'of a very flexible in itsapplied position as a unit with ing, because of its said composition,inherently responsive to the body heat at the place of use,

so as to adapt Iitself to-the shape of the wearers said core andextending throughout at least 'a prolonged continuous portion of thesaid core,

`said covering being composed of polyvinyl acetal resinous materialapplied Ato said core and very tightly compressed and compacted aboutsaid core and constituting, as so applied, compressed and compacted, aself-cushioning plastic material, which material is verymarkedlyself-cushioning in comparison'- with commercial zylonite andCelluloid, andwhich is devoid of the generallyrecognized objections torubber as a skincontacting substance, said covering of polyvinyl Aacetalresinbeing, because of its said composition, inherently responsive tothe body heat atthe place of use. whereby the covering'adapts itselftothe shape of the wearers'head formation at the area of use, andstrongly resistant to deterioration from such lbodily contact in use,and because of its said composition being nonsticky in use.

airvaizd intended forspectacle lbows, composed of a rod orV strip-like,slender, metallic, very exiblecore, and an applied, tightly andpermanently adherent covering consisting of a series of very thinlaminations made up of respectively underlying and overlying laminationsall very tightly compressed and compacted about said cor'e, to 'effectexclusion of air, said laminated covering being very flexible in itsapplied position as a unit with saidcore and extending 5'.A coveredtemple devoid of any imprisoned v composed of polyvinyl acetal resin andconstituting, as so applied, compressed and compacted, a self-cushioningplastic covering which is very markedly self-cushioning! in comparisonwith commercial zylonite and Celluoid, and which is, because of its saidcomposition, devoid of the generally recognized objection to rubber as amucosa skin-contacting substance, said covering beim, because of itssaid composition, inherently responsive to the body heet at the place ofuse so as to adapt itself to the shape of the wearers head 5 formationat the area of use, and strongly resistant to deterioration from suchbodily contact, and being.` non-sticky in use. as an applied temple corecovering.

ERNEST RING.

